President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, called for a multidisciplinary approach in higher education at the 75th convocation of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (MS University) in Vadodara, Gujarat, asserting that the most pressing challenges of our time — from climate change to artificial intelligence — cannot be solved by any single academic discipline.

The Core Message on AI and Human Judgement

At the heart of President Murmu's address was a pointed caution about over-reliance on technology. 'Artificial intelligence can provide solutions, but asking the right questions should be your responsibility,' she told graduating students. She added that while technology could deliver speed, students themselves must decide the direction in which it is applied — a distinction between capability and conscience that resonated across the university's broad academic spectrum.

This comes at a time when Indian universities are grappling with how to integrate AI tools into curricula without eroding critical thinking. Murmu's remarks signal that the highest constitutional office views human agency — not algorithmic output — as the non-negotiable core of education.

The Case for Multidisciplinary Education

President Murmu argued that contemporary problems are structurally interdisciplinary. 'Climate change is not only a subject of environmental studies. Artificial intelligence is not only a subject of computer science. Health is not only a subject of medicine or medical science. Poverty alleviation is not only the subject of an economist. Democracy is not only the subject of political science,' she said, making the case that siloed specialisations are inadequate for the complexity of the present moment.

She urged students to cultivate what she described as a composite intellectual sensibility: 'We need the curiosity of a scientist, the sensitivity of an artist, the perspective of a historian, an understanding of economics and the consciousness of sociology.' Notably, this framing positions humanistic and social understanding as equally vital as technical expertise — a counterweight to the STEM-first narrative dominant in much of India's higher education policy debate.

MS University's Academic Breadth in the Spotlight

President Murmu praised MS University specifically for its rare breadth, spanning faculties of Arts, Science, Education and Psychology, Commerce, Technology and Engineering, Medicine, Law, Fine Arts, Family and Community Sciences, Social Work, Performing Arts, Management Studies, Journalism and Communication, and Pharmacy. 'From arts to science, technology to medicine, law to social work, fine arts to performing arts, management to journalism, this university is providing education in many fields of knowledge,' she said, positioning the institution as a natural incubator for the cross-disciplinary thinking she was advocating.

Convocation by the Numbers

The 75th convocation saw degrees and diplomas conferred across the university's full range of faculties. According to the convocation declaration, 229 candidates qualified for Doctor of Philosophy degrees, 2,857 for Master's degrees, 8,863 for Bachelor's degrees, and 657 for Postgraduate Diplomas.

Constitutional Values as a Compass

Beyond technology and academia, President Murmu urged graduates to internalise constitutional ideals. She called on educated citizens to incorporate the values of 'justice, liberty, equality and fraternity' — enshrined in India's Constitution — into their lives and workplaces. Combining technological capability with human values and constitutional principles, she argued, is not optional but expected of every degree-holder.

As AI reshapes the contours of knowledge work, Murmu's address at Vadodara offers an early institutional marker: India's constitutional head is asking universities — and their graduates — to resist intellectual passivity and reclaim the act of questioning as a fundamentally human responsibility.